Alayna Calhoun recognized by SRATE as David Watts Scholar
Alayna Calhoun, a UF Unified Elementary ProTeach preservice student, was recently recognized as a David Watts Scholar by the Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators (SRATE).
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Paying It Forward
Shelley Warm, senior lecturer and Site-based Implementation of Teacher Education (SITE) program director, has been honored as Florida’s Outstanding Teacher Educator of the Year by the Florida Association of Teacher Educators (FATE). The Mary L. Collins award recognizes dedication to the field of teacher education and advocate of high-quality education.
Florida chapter named ‘Outstanding Unit’ by Association of Teacher Educators
The Florida Association of Teacher Educators (FATE) has been named the Association of Teacher Educators’ 2014 Outstanding Unit, marking the first time the Florida chapter has brought home the national organization’s second highest honor.
FATE president-elect Crystal Timmons
The award, which is based on the unit’s accomplishments in programs and services, membership and management, and articulation with the national office, was presented at this year’s national conference in Phoenix, Ariz.
FATE president-elect Crystal Timmons, a UF professor-in-residence with the College of Education’s Teacher Leadership for School Improvement program in Duval County, said all 200 members of her unit can be proud of what they’ve accomplished during the past year.
“We were the first unit to recognize all of our state’s district teachers of the year by inviting them to this year’s conference,” she said.
“FATE was well represented,” Timmons added. “We had five Florida school district members who served on the featured panel, and there were three University of Florida faculty members who facilitated a special professional development session for teachers of the year.”
She said the award comes with $500, which will be used to further FATE’s goals and objectives. Some of the money will help fund annual stipends of $500 each that FATE awards to four undergraduate teacher education students in Florida. The cash awards are part of FATE’s annual Fanchon F. Funk Scholars Award program.
“We were confident that our Outstanding Unit application clearly outlined FATE’s commitment to higher education and Florida’s public school system,” Timmons said. “We were hopeful that the committee could see the careful design and implementation of our various programs and activities.”
Contacts
Liaison: Larry Lansford, director, College of Education Office of News and Communications; llansford@coe.ufl.edu; phone 352-273-4137.
Writer: Stephen Kindland, College of Education Office of News and Communications; skindland@coe.ufl.edu; phone 352-273-3449.
Spotlight shines thrice on Prof. Pringle as top science teacher educator
With three major awards in less than three months, UF COE associate professor Rose Pringle is solidifying her reputation as one of the top science teacher educators around.
Over a recent six-week span, she received a regional award from the Southeastern Association of Science Teacher Education (SASTE), and state honors from the Florida Association of Teacher Educators (FATE) and the Florida Education Fund (FEF).
“This is affirmation that my colleagues not only notice what I’m doing, but value what I’m doing,” she said.
Pringle traveled to Savannah in late September to receive the John Shrum Award for excellence and leadership in the education of science teachers at the SASTE annual conference. A week later, in early October, FATE bestowed Pringle with the Mary L. Collins Teacher Educator of the Year Award at its annual conference in Boca Raton.
When Nov. 9 rolls around, Pringle will accept the 2014 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award from the Florida Education Fund, which promotes educational advancement for historically underrepresented groups. The Jones award honors exceptional faculty mentors from Florida colleges and universities who have empowered students in FEF’s McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program to complete their Ph.D. degree and prepare for a successful career in academia.
Pringle’s own graduate students were behind her nominations for all three awards. According to UF science education doctoral student Natalie King, colleagues and students alike turn to Pringle for mentorship.
“She has proved to be a caring mentor who leads by example and with humility,” King said.
Doctoral student Natalie Ridgewell said Pringle “strengthens both our program and field, and she helps to create an outstanding learning community.”
Pringle works with her faculty colleagues and doctoral students to develop, implement and evaluate teaching curricula consistent with education reform efforts for 21st century science learning. While teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, she has garnered more than $7 million in federal and state grants at UF to support her research and professional development work with practicing teachers.
Her research includes the exploration of preservice teachers as science learners, the development of science-specific teaching methods for prospective and practicing teachers, and translating these practices into engaging science experiences for all learners. Pringle’s also determined to increase the participation of minorities, especially girls of African descent, in science and mathematics.
“My goal is to have students in every science classroom in Florida be engaged in doing science in ways that are meaningful and equitable for all learners,” she said.
Pringle has been a COE faculty member since 2000 and has twice received the college’s Teacher of the Year Award.
CONTACTS
SOURCE: Rose Pringle, associate professor, UF College of Education; rpringle@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4190
WRITER: Candice Wynter, communications intern, UF College of Education; cwynter@ufl.edu
MEDIA CONTACT: Larry Lansford, communications director, UF College of Education; llansford@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4137
FATE has Timmons on presidential track
Crystal Timmons
Crystal Timmons, a UF professor-in-residence in the Duval County school district for the College of Education’s Lastinger Center for Learning, is the new president-elect of the Florida Association of Teacher Educators.
Her one-year term as president-elect, starting in October, puts her on track to automatically assume the presidency of FATE in 2015-16. She will continue serving on the group’s board of directors the following year as immediate past president.
“I’m asking for support and feedback from anyone who is involved with FATE to help us strengthen our mission to improve the effectiveness of teacher education,” Timmons said. “A strong state unit ultimately enhances the efforts of the national Association of Teacher Educators.”
